ANC Activist Looks Back at First Year on San Diego Youth Commission

SAN DIEGO, CA–As more southern Los Angeles area Armenian Americans leave come to get an education and experience life in communities beyond those in which they grew up, Henrietta Movsessian has taken advantage of her new surroundings and has set out to make a difference. For Movsessian, an ANC activist and second-year Political Science student at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), making a difference means public service -including serving as the Chair of the City of San Diego’s Youth Commission.

“Working in the Mayor’s office, I have gotten to see things first hand and learn more about the various departments within the City’s government,” says Movsessian. “I have grown to appreciate how a city is run, the amount of public involvement, the relationship between the media and the government, and the issues and possible dilemmas our city staff works to solve. I love San Diego and am very happy that I came to UCSD and got involved in my community.”

Shortly after arriving in San Diego to start school at UCSD, Movsessian began her volunteer work with the Armenian National Committee of San Diego County. After a year volunteering on a weekly basis in various capacities, she now serves as the organization’s Vice Chair. Back on campus she is an
active member of the Armenian Student Association and Alpha Gamma Alpha, the Armenian sorority.

She is currently involved in the Thurgood Marshall College Student Council and Judicial Board. Her involvement with student government has given her a new outlook, as she experiences diversity first hand.

In order to broaden her experience in politics Movsessian sought out an internship with the office of San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders. While an intern she assisted with research, planning meetings, helping with community outreach efforts, and communicating with City officials and agencies. She
was subsequently nominated to serve on the San Diego Youth Commission. Given her experience with his office, Mayor Sanders tapped Movsessian to Chair the Commission.

The San Diego Youth Commission calls attention to important factors or events that affect the youth in the city, providing recommendations directly to the Mayor. It is comprised of eighteen members, with two representatives from each of the eight districts and two appointed by the Mayor.

The Armenian National Committee of San Diego County advances the social, economic, cultural, and political rights of the area’s Armenian American community and promotes increased Armenian American civic participation at the grassroots and public policy levels.

Azeri Violence Condemned at Washington DC Protest

WASHINGTON—On Feb. 26, Greater Washington, D.C. area Armenian Americans remembered victims of Azerbaijani violence during an annual protest in support of self-determination for the people of Nagorno-Karabagh and against Azerbaijani aggression.

The demonstration, organized by the Greater Washington Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) “Ani” Chapter and the St. Mary’s Armenian Church Youth Organization (ACYO), coincided with the 22nd anniversary of the Azerbaijani pogroms against the Armenian population of Sumgait, which set the stage for similar attacks in Baku in 1990 and a cycle of violence that continues to this day. Similar protests will be taking place during the next few days in countries around the world.

“It was a very important event to remember and honor the victims that died, whose only crime was being Armenian,” said ACYO chairwoman Megan Karanfil. “We cannot allow the Azerbaijani government to forget these crimes against innocent people. We hope our efforts will bring to light past events so that no other race or religion will have to endure such atrocities in the future.”

Azerbaijani threats against neighboring Armenia and Karabagh have stepped up in recent weeks, with the Azeri Foreign Minister Safar Abiyev warning of a “great war.” Slamming the ongoing Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) peacetalks as ineffective, Abiyev told French Ambassador to Baku Gabriel Keller, “Now it’s the military’s turn and the threat is growing every day.”

“Abiyev’s call for renewed violence, this week, is the shining example why we must all stand in support of Nagorno-Karabagh’s independence,” said AYF Ani Chapter chairman Hagop Simonian. “Since 1991, the Nagorno Karabagh Republic has worked tireless to build a democratic and peaceful society, in the shadow of Azerbaijan’s threats. We will continue to work hand-in-hand with the people Artsakh to preserve and build on that legacy.”

At the end of the protest, Soorp Khatch Armenian Church pastor, Father Sarkis Aktavoukian, and St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church pastor, Father Hovsep Karapetyan, led participants in prayer in memory of the Armenian victims of Azerbaijani atrocities.

Armenia Supports Genocide Bill, Rejects Turkish Warnings To U.S. Congress

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–Official Yerevan dismissed on Tuesday Turkish warnings that a U.S. congressional resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide would set back the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations.

It also emerged that a group of Armenian parliamentarians is heading to Washington in an apparent effort to facilitate the passage of the resolution introduced by U.S. legislators a year ago.

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to discuss and vote on the proposed legislation on Thursday. It urges President Barack Obama to “accurately characterize the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide.”

The Turkish Foreign Ministry warned on Monday that its approval by the House committee would harm not only harm U.S.-Turkish relations but also efforts by Turkey and Armenia to normalize bilateral ties. “We would like to believe that the members of the committee are aware of the damage… the endorsement of the resolution will bring
and, in this context, act responsibly,” the ministry said in a statement.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly issued a similar warning over the weekend. He said passage of the genocide resolution would bring the U.S.-backed Turkish-Armenian normalization process to a halt.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian brushed aside the warning, saying that the biggest threat to that process emanates from Ankara’s “preconditions” for the implementation of the Turkish-Armenian normalization agreements that were set months before the House panel scheduled a debate on the resolution.

“It is statements made in Turkey and the return to the language of preconditions that deal a blow to the process of normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations,” Nalbandian told a news conference. “We hope that Turkey will rid itself of artificial complexes created by the Turkish side and that we will be able to move forward in accordance with our understandings.”

Nalbandian stopped short of explicitly urging U.S. lawmakers to recognize what many historians consider the first genocide of the 20th century. But in a sign of Yerevan’s tacit support for the resolution, four members of Armenia’s parliament will fly to Washington on Wednesday at the invitation of Frank Pallone and Mark Kirk, the two U.S. lawmakers co-chairing the congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues. The bipartisan group, currently numbering 150 House members, has long been pushing for Armenian genocide recognition.

A source in the National Assembly told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that Pallone and Kirk asked their Armenian colleagues to “present their views on and approaches to issues of mutual interest” to U.S. legislators and foreign policy-makers. The genocide resolution will be the main focus of their meetings in Washington, said the source.

A similar delegation of Turkish parliamentarians is already in Washington, meeting with U.S. officials and lobbying against the resolution. “My impression is that the (Obama) administration is not fighting against it very effectively,” one of them, Sukru Elekdag, said on Monday, according to Reuters.

Obama has so far declined to openly endorse or, as past U.S. administrations did, oppose the measure. The Associated Press cited aides to senior Democratic and Republican lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee as saying last week there has been no pressure against the resolution from the White House yet. According to a spokesman for committee chairman, Howard Berman, the Obama administration was informed about Thursday’s vote ahead of time.

Obama repeatedly pledged to recognize the Armenian genocide when he ran for president, earning the overwhelming backing of the Armenian Americans. However, he has refrained from using the word “genocide” since taking office, implicitly citing the need not to undermine the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement.

“His view of that history has not changed,” US National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said last week. “Our interest remains the achievement of a full, frank, and just acknowledgement of the facts.”

“The best way to advance that goal is for the Armenian and Turkish people to address the facts of the past as a part of their ongoing efforts to normalize relations,” said Hammer. “We will continue to support these efforts vigorously in the months ahead.”
Some observers have speculated that Washington is using the prospect of U.S. recognition of the genocide to try to get the Turks to ratify the two Turkish-Armenian protocols signed in October. The Turkish ambassador to the United States, Namik Tan, seemed to give weight to this view on Saturday.

“The greatest lobbyist in Washington is the administration,” Tan said, according to the Associated Press. “We have not seen them around enough on this.”